"If you want to gather honey, don't kick over the beehive."

I have never been a high-maintenance girl. I still own and regularly wear a hoodie I bought when I was 16, ffs. I didn't bother with make-up until I was at university, which put me about six years behind all my female friends. I hate clothes shopping and I never bought into the idea of expensive beauty products. I remember seeing a uni housemate spend £60 on a jar of moisturiser once and just about passing out from shock. That was like two weeks of food shopping, gone on this pot of cream that, as far as I could tell, didn't do anything. I was actually a bit offended by it.

About my only real indulgence on that front is Lush's shampoos and conditioners. They are stupid expensive, but my hair is a bit special, and the big bottles last me about three months, so it seems worth it.

Anyway. Since I started experimenting with all the natural beauty stuff last year, I've definitely become convinced there's no need to be high maintenance. One bottle of honey at a cost of less than £2 lasts me about four months and makes such a good face wash that I don't need to use facial moisturiser. One jar of coconut oil at £5 lasts a good two months and makes amazing body moisturiser, deep conditioner, eye make-up remover, and in Kyle's case, beard conditioner. Baking soda is so cheap it's not even funny, and it lasts forever. I've really reached the point where I just don't get why I ever did anything different. I've given up synthetic perfumes altogether - the smells just aren't right now I'm used to my own home-made ones.

Not everything works. I was experimenting with oil based night-moisturisers this week. I'm not really sure why, because I don't think it's something my skin needs, but it just seemed like it might be fun. I made a concoction of sweet almond oil, vitamin E oil, and lavender and palma rose oils. Used it for three days - yes, my skin is all soft and dewy, but I also got pretty bad spots, which I normally never get unless my diet takes a turn for the junky. I read online you're supposed to stick with oil-based treatments like this for two weeks before deciding whether they work or not, to let your skin adjust, but...well, no. I'm going to use the mixture as body moisturiser instead.

Next stop is body lotion bars to replace shower gel. I need cocoa butter and more shea butter, and I've ordered some ground apricot stones to throw in as an exfoliant. Eventually, aside from the little make-up I wear, I'd love every beauty/cosmetic/health product in my house to be natural and homemade.

I've toyed with the idea of going no-shampoo, but honestly I think for me that's a step too far. Homemade shampoo bars may be a possibility? I'm a bit overwhelmed by most of the recipes I've seen for that. But it's something to aim for in the future. I get a lot of satisfaction from the whole natural beauty kick, especially when something works really well.